


On Krypton, Emojis Mean "I Love You"

by NancyBrown



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Chatting & Messaging, Family, Gen, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 05:05:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11029236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NancyBrown/pseuds/NancyBrown
Summary: Kara and Clark chat about saving the world, Kryptonian holidays, and Clark's colleagues in the Justice League. (He still won't tell her who Batman is.)





	On Krypton, Emojis Mean "I Love You"

**Author's Note:**

  * For [VampirePaladin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampirePaladin/gifts).



*ping*

Kara opened the chat program. Clark's name glowed with the new message: "Hi"

"Hi," she replied, settling in on her couch and pulling her legs under herself. This was her personal laptop. No worries about Miss Grant asking questions, no wondering if Winn set up a snooping program, probably. "What's up?"

"I have been instructed to tell you that Lois says hello." She could practically see Clark's amused expression as he typed the words, just as she could picture Lois glaring at him before leaning over with an affectionate kiss on the head and a warning to be good.

"Hi, Lois!"

"I haven't heard from you in a few weeks. Are you ok?"

How to answer? Clark had been supportive of her choice to become Supergirl. He worried about her, but he'd worried about her since the day he'd dropped her off with her new family. Annoying boys at school, driving lessons, or punching bank robbers, it was all the same to the little cousin she ought to have been here protecting instead of the other way around.

"I'm ok. Work has been busy. That reminds me. Miss Grant keeps asking when you're coming to visit."

"lol!" When she tried to think of it as Superman typing the word, her mental image fell apart. When she thought about dorky Clark typing it, her face finished the smile it had been forming since she heard the alert ping.

Kara paused. There were questions on her mind, and secrets that weren't hers. "You and J'onn J'onzz don't get along, do you?"

"No." A pause. "Why?"

"Do you trust him?"

A much longer pause. "I would trust J'onn with the safety of the Earth." That was an answer he'd retyped sixteen times before hitting Send.

"But?"

"No butts."

Kara sighed. Such a dork. "Would you trust him with your life?"

"Yes. I wouldn't trust him with yours."

"Ok. Thx."

"Why?"

"No reason."

"Kara"

She stared at the word. Clark was a writer by profession. Punctuation was like breathing to him, and its absence said more than a keysmashed exclamation point ever would.

What could she tell him? That the head of the DEO had been replaced by the Martian he'd had such a contentious relationship with for the last few years? That, acting as Hank, J'onn had protected Alex, giving her a job where she could grow in her self-confidence while he watched over her in repayment for Jeremiah's kindness? That he'd begun treating Kara the same, warm and nurturing to her even as they fought to protect the Earth together?

Kara adored J'onn. Clark did not.

"I've run into him recently. He doesn't seem all bad."

"He's not bad. J'onn has a different point of view about protecting Earth than I do. He thinks he might have to protect the Earth from me some day. It's hard not to take that personally."

"You did try to destroy the planet that one time."

"Red kryptonite!"

"I know."

Kara stared at her screen, wondering if Clark was doing the same at his end, or if he was typing and erasing his next comment over and over.

Finally, she typed, "I'll be careful."

"Good."

"I like him, though."

The pause went on a long, long time. "I do, too."

***

Kara sat at her computer, considering. Then she opened the chat program and pinged Clark.

"What's up?" he asked her.

"You knew about Hank Henshaw this whole time?" She'd been stewing since Hank had mentioned that Clark knew about him to her earlier today. She hadn't dared text him, or IMed him from work. Work. Was Clark at work? "Where are you?"

"Home. Yes, I knew."

"Why didn't you say something?"

"Not my secret. Are you ok?"

Kara grumbled at the monitor. She could Skype her cousin and let him see her grumpy face. Instead she typed, "I'm fine. I was trying to keep his secret safe from you."

She could practically feel the sigh in his words as he typed back, "You do know that I know the secret identities of the whole League, right?"

Well, no, she hadn't. She had assumed up to this moment that most of the Justice League operated as heroes full-time. The Green Lantern didn't even wear a mask. Of course, neither did she or Clark. "I figured," she told him at last, wondering if he would pick up on her lie.

"Hank is playing a very dangerous game in the name of keeping the world safe. I admire him."

Alex had said almost the exact same words to her when they'd sat here on this couch talking about the same thing. Her sister was growing to care for J'onn like a father.

"I wish you'd told me sooner."

"Are you safe around him?" Clark's concern came through the text loud and clear. If he suspected Kara's life were ever endangered by spending time with his colleague, Clark would come here and personally rip said colleague's head off.

"Yes, and if I wasn't, I could handle it myself."

"I know. :) " The emoticon smiled at her, and she could picture Clark's sunny grin.

Kara settled in on the couch. "Ok, fine. You know everything. Who's Batman?"

"Some weird guy in Gotham who could use more therapy?"

"Come on."

"I am not telling."

"What about Wonder Woman?"

"Good-night, Kara."

He logged off, leaving her alone in the chat window.

***

Christmas was not a Kryptonian holiday, for obvious reasons, but Clark had been raised on Earth by a couple who celebrated the religious and cultural holiday. Every year, he sent her a present. In the early days, he would send clothes as Eliza told him she needed and would like, and one year he sent a gift certificate for the local bicycle shop for Kara to pick one out with her parents. She hadn't the heart to tell him she was old enough not to want a bike. When she was old enough to have an Amazon account, his gifts for her had been chosen from her own list, often amended by his own quirky sense of humor.

Today, Kara stared at the package in her hands, a little worried. Finally, she ripped open the cardboard to find the boxed set of the latest season of _Game of Thrones_.

She pulled up Clark's name on her phone and texted him: "Opened your gift. Thank you! Have a merry Christmas!"

Her phone beeped. "Merry Christmas, Kara, and blessed Nova to you."

For a moment, Kara was a little girl, and Mother was readying her for the Nova Cycle celebration, and everything was lights and music, and she was loved. She'd told Clark about it last year, never expecting him to remember or care. He'd been far too little for something like that to matter to him. But he did. He remembered and cared about what she'd told him because it mattered to her.

"Blessed Nova," she said, and when Alex asked why she looked like she'd been crying, Kara just hugged her.

***

Astra was dead, and J'onn had killed her, and Kara didn't know how to feel. The pain was like losing Mother all over again just when she'd thought there might be some chance of making things better.

She fumbled her laptop open and pinged Clark.

"What's up?" he asked her after a few minutes.

Too much, she thought. "Nothing. I missed you." Astra was … had been her last surviving family from Krypton, or so she'd felt. But that wasn't true. The entire reason Kara was here on Earth, was alive instead of scattered to atoms like the rest of her world, and lived under this name, was because of the baby who'd been sent to Earth with her. Eliza and Alex were her family here, and she loved them, but Clark was her family from home, and right now, she needed to talk to him more than anyone.

"I see the news reports all the time from National City. I'm so proud of all you've accomplished there."

Tears threatened at her eyes. "Thx."

"What's wrong?"

So much was wrong. The world was falling apart. "Nothing. I'm good. Tell Lois I said hello."

"Kara, do you want me to come over?"

She smiled half-heartedly at the screen. For them, a quick flight hundreds of miles away was no big deal. He could be here in minutes, take her into a huge hug, and let her tell him her problems. Like a kid. Like she couldn't handle things herself. And she knew he would never once look at it that way, but she would.

"No. It's been a long week at work, that's all. I'll come visit you in Metropolis soon, though, ok?"

"Ok. Love you."

"Love u 2."

***

Clark had gone back to Metropolis and Kara already missed him so much her teeth ached. Having him here, working with him, this fulfilled her in ways she didn't know how to express to anyone, especially not Alex. Alex liked Clark, really she did. Kara understood that Alex always felt a little shadowed by his presence, as though some day, Kara was going to get fed up with her human family and go fly off to be with her cousin.

Alex was scared, and Kara loved her.

"Let's do pizza and potstickers tonight," she said before Alex could argue.

"Finally ready to hang out with your boring old sister?"

Kara's mouth quirked. "Only if she's ready to listen to me complain about my dorky cousin."

"Complain?"

"Yes." On cue, her phone beeped. Kara read the text and let Alex read the very short conversation:

"You left your underwear here. In the bathroom."

"I AM SO SORRY!"

Alex's laugh was worth every embarrassed look Clark would give her the next time they met up.

***

The world was saved. Clark had been mind-controlled by the Daxamite queen, and now everything was almost back to normal, almost back to right.

Almost.

Her phone beeped. Clark's text said, "How are you doing?"

Kara stared at the screen. "I'm going to be ok. I'm not ok now."

"I can come back. Lois told me I should have stayed longer."

"Tell Lois I will be ok, and thx." She tapped the screen. She wasn't going to cry now. "You know, I'd feel better if you told me who Batman really is."

"Kara."

"I love you. I'll call this weekend. Give Lois a hug for me."

"Ok. Love you, too. Tell Alex and J'onn to hug you for me."

She smiled at her phone. "Ok."

***  
The End


End file.
